Our busy life with an amazing veterinarian and cattleman, a gardening, quilting and history loving wife and mother, a creative perfectionist violinist, a spunky and kind epileptic princess, a sweet yet wild little man, and the most mellow and happy babe, on a joyful 1/2 acre living and loving in a beautiful mountain valley.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Here you go moms - a different kind of survey for a change -it's all about your first born! Just copy and paste it.

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes, very much so, 2 days after we signed insurance papers!

2. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? hooray, Matt yelled it through the grocery store parking lot where I bought and took the test! I was excited and scared to become a parent, very scared.3. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 26 and 27 when she was born4. WHERE DID YOU LIVE? Cortez, Colorado when she was born, and Corvallis, Oregon when she was made (is that too crude?)5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Well, after no period and me falling of the roof of my parents house while shingling (yes, I know - amazing skill), I decided I better take a little test to see if I could take the pain meds.6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Matt of course and then my friend Debra in Oregon because she was a nurse and told me if I could take those pain meds!! Then the grandmas and grandpas about 3 months later.7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? No8. DUE DATE? Feb 11 20029. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? yes, only for about 2 months though, I must mention I hate vomiting10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? KFC coleslaw and chicken nuggets, or anything I didn't have to cook

11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? The HEAT - the 4 Corners area is warm in the summer and that apartment had NO A/C!12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Girl13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? I didn't care - healthy is all I cared about14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? ouch . . . 42

15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, a few. One with the ward, one at work, and one with my family.

Kelsey at 4 days old

16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew.17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Not really, getting chubby, that and I can't jump on the tramp now without peeing my pants!!18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? hospital in Cortez, CO19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 2120. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Matt21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Matt and the doc22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural, just thinking about it makes me wince23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? no, I did get an 800 mg Ibuprofen the next day though!24. Did you yell at your husband? Yes, he and the doctor were talking about horses having babies and how different humans were and how much longer it took! (he was the docs veterinarian) I had to remind them that I was the one in labor and I was not a horse!25. Who does your child look like? both of us, more like Matt when she was littler and more like me as she grows. Maybe neither of us - she is beautiful!26. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 8 pounds 12 ounces27. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? One day late28. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Kelsey Dawn29. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO NAME HIM/HER WHAT YOU DID? Dr. Kelsey (his last name) is a vet that Matt worked with and it was the only name we could agree on. Matt's grandpa's name was Don, so we put Dawn in there too.30.HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? She just turned 7.

Here is little Kelsey at one month old.

**Now for the fun to spread (Tag 5 people)- I tag: lets see . . . anyone who wants to do this, it was fun, thanks Cherlelyn!

The Wasatch County Chess Tournament was today. Kelsey has been going to Chess Club at her elementary school for 1/2 hour after school once a week for about a month. She is a pretty smart chess player. Well, today she got to play in a tournament just here in town and our sweet girl tied for first place in the k-2 grade division. Here she is with her winnings - a super fun vinyl roll up board and some nice pieces, with 2 queens per color. Did you know you could play with 2 queens? Me niether, not until today when Kelsey won a second queen during one of her matches!

Every kid got to play 4 matches. It is pretty nice how they set the games up for the kids to play - they get matched to their own ability levels. Kelsey did a super great job. We are so proud of her. We do have a few things to work on though - in all 4 of her matches she let her opponent get down to just their king, while she had a bunch of pieces left. She loves to kill and take their pieces so much that she forgets she is supposed to put their king in check-mate!! Well, I am sure she doesn't forget, she just gets wrapped up in the slaughter of knights and bishops and such I suppose!

This is funny, here she is in her final match, the one she tied on. It is a little dark, sorry. We have got to teach the girl how to sit in a skirt! I think she gets so nervous and wrapped up in the game, she doesn't realize what she is doing. I also caught her with hair in her mouth! Yuck! She only does that when she is super nervous!

Another 'sit in a skirt' lesson! Shortly after this both Kelsey and her opponent just stood up for the rest of the game. They were the second to last ones playing - drawing it out!

Matt had to work in Roy today and he was so sad he missed the day with Kelsey. With Matt at work, that meant Kendal got to go with us. She did so well! We left the house at 8:15 and didn't get back until about 1:15. Kendal was super good to sit quiet with me and color and play Leapster and read and "dit a dink a wawa"over and over again.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

I can not help myself, with the past few days being so warm that the north side of my roof is nearly snow-free, I just keep dreaming of summer. I am so uninspired by anything but looking out the window and imagining leaves on the trees, a green lawn, and planning my yard work for the summer. Seriously, I looked out the window yesterday for so long imagining it all, Kelsey asked me what I was doing. When I went out to get the wood in, I just stayed out and dreamed of flowers on my dead looking shrubs and what I was going to dig up and move or throw out or plant. Actually, I laid in bed last night and decided that the snow has melted enough (about 2 1/2 feet) on the east side of my house and those little flower beds need to be enlarged. Maybe today I will get out there with my shovel and get myself a dose of spring in February.

Anyway, the girls are longing for summer too and so I finally did it - I gave them blue food coloring in the tub and let them play in the ocean. Since only Kelsey has ever played in the ocean and she was only 1 year old, it was more like splash in the blue tub water right before bed and get really relaxed and tired. They loved it. They even went diving with their amazing goggles! I have got to get Kendal some other goggles, she liked Kelsey's much more - who could blame her?

Although I could tell her that her goggles look like GLORIA! I like em big and chunky!

Monday, February 23, 2009

When Kelsey turned 4 years old we had a friend birthday party. It was mostly the girls in her primary class and a few other girls we knew. It was a pretty low key UNICORN party. They played pin the horn on the unicorn, a few other fun games, colored some unicorn pictures, ate some snacks and we were done. No gifts. Low key. But that low key party just about put me over the edge. It was soon afterward that a friend told me what she does for her kids' birthdays and I immediately adapted it.So this is what we do - Friend parties at age 4, 8, 12, and 16. All the other years it is family birthday time. I loved it when I heard it and I love it even more now. That is what we have done and it is a super plan. Some people think I am WAY too over the edge by not letting my kids have friend parties every year, but it works for us. We don't even have a big family party since no cousins or grandparents live close by. We love our own little family birthday time. I want my kids to learn that family is number one. We are sealed together for all time and eternity as a family and we should enjoy each other and find joy in each other's triumphs, including aging another year!

In the past we have always done something BIG as a family for the girls' birthdays. Kelsey has chosen to go miniature golfing for the past 2 years but this year she picked BUILD A BEAR.

So we went to BUILD A BEAR a few days after her birthday which just happened to be a SATURDAY and also happened to be VALENTINES DAY! Holy smokes! It was crazy at the Build a Bear we went to! We went to the mall and as soon as we turned the corner to the Build a Bear store there was a line. I am not joking, there was a line of around 20 people or so to pick their animal and get it stuffed. Matt and I looked at the line, at eachother, and took a deep breath and stood in line with the rest of Utah County on Valentine's Day.

Kelsey picked a cute rabbit and Kendal picked a cute kitty. It was pretty fun to see them so excited! After we stood in line to get their animals stuffed, we got to pick out the clothes. Kelsey picked a glittery, sequiny, peace sign shirt and pants, and to top off the look, high heels. Kendal picked out a pink HELLO KITTY outfit for her kitty and we also opted for the HELLO KITTY panties, hoping it would sink in. (By the way, she changed her diaper by herself again today! What are we going to do?!)

They have LOVED their Build a Bear animals . It is pretty cute to see them both find their animals when it is bedtime, and when they wake up in the morning, they still have them in their arms.

I was trying to get a picture of them with their new treasures, but Kendal was so excited about the Dora library book it didn't work so great. Plus, she wanted to look at the camera and see herself and "sis" so she wasn't all too cooperative. Anyway, we had a great day as a family celebrating Kelsey's birthday at Build a Bear Workshop. If you think I am an onery mom for our birthday tradition, don't tell me. I don't want to hear it. My girls love it and so do Matt and I. But, Kelsey is very excited for her 8th birthday already. It will be a BIG one!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

A few days ago I was just browsing through my picture files and I came across SUMMER! Here are a few of the pictures I saw. Oh how it made my little heart ache for sunshine and sprinklers and flowers and warmth and late evenings outside and on and on and on.

It even made me think mowing the lawn was a good idea! Imagine that!

Then I noticed yesterday how light it is later. Does that make sense? I used to take Kelsey to ceramics at 5:15 in Nov and Dec and it was pretty much dark. Now I look outside and it is not dark until after 6:15. It is so glorious! And this morning, when Matt left for work at 6:30, I noticed it was NOT pitch black outside. There was already a touch of light out there and by 7:00, it was a perfectly pretty morning. I love it love it love it. The time change is coming soon too . . . hooray!

Monday, February 16, 2009

All we have been singing at our house lately is"I like em big, I like em chunky." Imagine that in a deep throaty voice, and that is our house. I sound REALLY good in the morning, just like MotoMoto with my sore scratchy voice right when I wake up! I should be a millionaire too! Anyway, Matt gave Kelsey the Madagascar 2 DVD for her birthday this past week. And for those of you who have not yet seen it, "Baby you're huge" and it is a pretty funny movie. For me to say that is a big deal. The story line is horrible and the old lady ruins it for me, but Gloria and MotoMoto the hippos, they make up for it. We love them and we sing their fat songs all day long at our house. I told Matt he can only sing like that to me and tell me how "plump" I am for 5 1/2 more weeks, then he will get a black eye! It is hard to get that little 'chunky' song out of our heads!

Anyway, back to the sweet little birthday girl. Kelsey had a super birthday. The poor thing requested to be woken up (is that proper English?) at 6:00 am so she could open her presents before her dad left for work because she knew she would otherwise have to wait until 7:30 pm when he got home! She got some great presents and I love how happy and content she truly is. She is a sweet little girl.

Kelsey requested a Fantastic Four cake this year. It started out as a joke, but she was serious. We could not find Fantastic Four ANYTHING ANYWHERE! Matt searched 3 Wal-Marts and a Target in Weber and Davis counties and found nothing, and our sweet little local KINGS didn't have anything either! It is the wrong time for Fantastic Four since it has been awhile since a movie has been released I guess.She then told me she wanted a square cake with layers and pink sprinkles. Easy enough. Matt was pretty upset about not finding any Fantastic Four figurines to put on her cake and this is what Kelsey told him. "Dad it is okay, I will just make a popsicle stick girl and put it on the top of the cake." Isn't that so cute? She didn't end up with a bunch of popsicle sticks, but she did paint a picture of herself and taped it to one popsicle stick and stuck it on top of the cake. She is so funny. Here she is making her wish. I love the look on her face. It makes you know it was a good wish!

Kelsey is such a great girl. She is a sweet, caring and considerate little person. She cares about other's feelings and doesn't want anyone to feel bad or left out. She is super dependable and I can trust her to do anything I ask her to do. She is a pleaser and tries to please both Matt and I by doing well in school and helping at home. She is the best sister Kendal could ever have. She is a sister though and they fight, that is for sure, but she cares and loves Kendal so much. She said to me just today "I have to admit it mom, Kendal is the cutest thing I have ever seen. What does 'admit it' mean anyway?"

I had a babysitter come last week while I went to quilt guild and Matt was in Logan. When I was taking the babysitter home she said "Kelsey is really a good big sister to Kendal. She knows what will make her happy and how to take care of her." I thought that was such a compliment from a 15 year old girl. Kelsey is truly a wonderful daughter and a great sister too. We love her very much and it is both breaking my heart to watch her grow up and it also makes me so happy to see her develop into a more amazing girl everyday.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

So yesterday I said to Kendal "Kendal, your diaper is getting pretty soggy. Go get a clean diaper and I will change you." She said to me "No, I fine." and kept playing. I have purposely been letting her diaper get drenched soggy so it will be uncomfortable so she MIGHT have a desire to get rid of those dang diapers and use the toilet. I only offer to change her when I realize the urine is going to start leaking out, or she is stinky. She could care less.

So after I said that I waited about 10 minutes and said it again. She replied, "No mom, I fine." I spied on her and within 3 minutes she was in the bathroom (where we keep the diaper paraphernalia) taking off her socks and her pants. She then took off her 8 pound soaked pull up diaper, got a clean pull up out of the drawer and put it on. She then put back on her socks and was attempting her pants when she got angry. She brought her pants to me and said "Hep mom, inside out." I fixed her pants, helped her get them on and then said "You need to take care of that soggy diaper you left on the floor in the bathroom." The little turkey said very sweetly, "No sanks mom, you do it" smiled and left. I thought to myself "OH DEAR!"

I was telling Matt this story last night when the girls were in bed and he just about died. He HATES it that she is still not potty trained, and so do I. But I am much more patient about it than he is. For goodness sakes, she is 3 1/2 years old! Matt just rolled his eyes at this story and said "Great, why go on the toilet when you can change your own diapers!?!" I love that little girl!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

So one of the main reasons we had a wood stove installed this fall was so we wouldn't be paying Questar Gas $150 every month during the winter. I know, we could get on that plan that they have so you can pay the same amount every month, but I just love those $14 gas bills in the summer so much, and I can not give those up. Anyway, we got our January gas bill a few weeks ago and it was $28. It was beautiful. Matt and I were on cloud nine, not because we are total cheapskates, but because we were beating the system. Okay, we are cheapskates too.

I start a fire every evening between 5 and 6 pm, we keep it going most of the night since I am up using the bathroom 3 times a night, and when we all wake up in the morning it is usually a wonderful 72 degrees or so in our house. With me being The Furnace Nazi, the past 5 winters it was around 64 when we woke up. BBRRRRR! I keep the fire going in the mornings until about 9 am and then let it burn out. The stove is cast iron, so it retains quite a bit of heat, but by 3 o'clock in the afternoon, it is perfectly cool so I clean the ashes out, get more wood in, and start all over with the whole process again.

Well, as Matt and I were basking over the glory of our win, we were having a LITTLE bit of trouble with our stove over the past few weeks. Every time we would open it to put more wood in, it would send a plume of nasty smoke into the living room. That wasn't so bad, but when the fire alarms were going off for 7 minutes straight while the neighbor was here, that was not good. We were also having a little trouble, I mean I was having trouble getting the fires to start also because the stove wasn't drawing very well. I used to never have trouble getting the fire to go and now the house was smelling like a tepee instead of a home.

I found a chimney sweep that could come last week and it was a miracle! He was super nice, super clean, and it was super great that he could come because a few other chimney sweeps told me this was their off season and no they would not come. The chimney sweep looked in our stove and said "You guys burn alot don't you?" I replied, "Yes, every single day." "WOW" was his response.

To make a long story longer, he cleaned our stove, the chimney, and could not believe how much he had to clean out of our chimney and that we had only been burning since October. On the outside of our house, he said the outside vent on the top of our chimney was completely sealed off with crap (official term for Heber City Frozen Ash). We gladly paid him his $95 fee and told him thanks so much for not making us burn our house down.

Now that the gas bill just got another $95 chimney sweep fee tacked on to it, it doesn't seem too wonderful anymore! But we have ambience and mood and REAL HEAT dang it!

Friday, February 06, 2009

Matt has been in Logan for the past 2 days at a class called LIVESTOCK VITAMINS AND MINERALS PROGRAM. Sounds interesting doesn't it? Anyway, he just got home and now he and the girls are wrestling and screaming and I have retreated to the computer room. He is headed south tomorrow and Kendal thinks she is going with him to work cows. I think she will be in the way and have her little heart broken when she can't go.

I did dishes the old fashioned way tonight. Old fashioned meaning actually using the sink and such, not sand and a river bed. Last night when I got home from quilt guild the baby sitter had my sweet ones in bed and asleep. I started the dishwasher and then got on the computer and did a few other things before I went to bed. Luckily I checked on that dang dishwasher before I did go to bed and holy smokes. I had a puddle of water about 10 feet long, running under the fridge, and it made it all the way to the back door. Dang thing! We just got it new in July and it has had a teeny tiny leak since we got it and I always just wipe up the few little drips before Matt has a chance to see it.Well, about a month ago, he happened to get a drop of water on his sock in the kitchen from the leaky dishwasher that I had not cleaned up yet and he was not happy. He wanted that honey fixed and I would rather not bother with the warranty and repairmen and just wipe it up. Well, the mess it made last night changed my mind. I called and someone will be here Wednesday between 8 and 5. Don't you just love that? 8 and 5!!!Anyway, I don't want to chance a flood again so I guess I will do dishes like I used to do dishes until I was 27 years old. It is funny how pampered I have been with a dishwasher these past few years and not even realized it. Doing dishes the real way makes me feel a little humbled and that is a good thing every now and then. Actually, a few years ago our dishwasher completely died and I humbled myself for about 3 months before I decided that a new dishwasher was a good thing. What was I thinking??

Here is one of the latest projects completed. I started this table runner last summer for my mom and I finally delivered it to her last weekend. It is a fun little pattern and I am going to make one for me also. Oh, for those of you that left your opinion on the previous quilting project, I thank you very much. Your input was wonderful. I did go buy some sashing fabric earlier this week and I am so excited! It is not the color I was expecting to buy, but I think it will turnout pretty. I will post a picture soon. For me and quilting projects that means in the next 5 months. No, I have to get this one done before this baby arrives. Thanks again for your help with the project!

My dad made this table and the chairs for my mom a few years ago. Isn't he amazing?

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

I read my sister Tori's blog last night right before I went to bed and I laid there for a little while thinking about how REAL I am becoming. This will not make a lot of sense unless you have read her post about being REAL, so bear with me or go read it.

I love the reasoning that I am becoming real, heck, I probably already am real. The facts are that I am a little shabby and my eyes are loose - among other parts, I have come unsewn in a few spots, the snot and tears that have streaked my face from my crying girl's loves and kisses have left their marks, the marks around my growing belly button DO hurt, and since I don't have many shirts that are not stained with fingernail polish, chocolate milk, blood, or from some other motherly duty, I must be real. Real means that you are loved. I know I am loved and very much needed by my sweet little family.

Maybe this whole REAL thing is sounding so good to me right now because I don't feel nice and new, I feel old and shabby, and worn out. Whatever the hormonal reason, it sure made me feel tremendously grateful last night while I was thinking about what my sister wrote about becoming REAL.

Monday, February 02, 2009

We went to my parents' house for the weekend and it was a super weekend. The weather was fabulous, it was light jacket weather, and the kids LOVED being outside without any snow. I loved being outside without any snow too! Matt helped my dad a little on the timeshare and also did a little bull work for some Wayne County cattlemen. It truly was a great weekend.

The girls were outside also helping their grandpa work on the house (okay, not really - they were chasing the cat, having a saw dust picnic, climbing the hill, playing kick ball, etc) and Kelsey found a couple of nice pieces of wood that would make great stilts. Her grandpa of course obliged and the next thing you knew, Kelsey had some stilts to play on.

I was surprised at how quickly she learned to walk on them. She did a good job. It was fun to watch her. Now this summer she can have her grandpa make her some taller ones!

The timeshare is coming along nicely. Since the weather was good, they, Matt, my dad, and Rick, worked on the front porch.

When a cold wind came up, we would head inside and sit by the fire. Kendal had my mom playing soccer and roll the ball most of the day on Saturday. Thank goodness for grandmas and grandpas!

Kendal and her grandma. She calls her "damma." Kelsey thinks she is saying a bad word.

One more trip on the stilts before we go back to the snow and ice in Heber City. We had a super weekend. It was nice to get away and the nice weather was a bonus!